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Local people building peace around the world

In the world’s most difficult and dangerous conflicts, local peacebuilders are making a real difference. Every day they risk their lives to build peace and prevent conflict in the places where it starts – locally.

These local heroes can work in places outsiders can't reach. And stay long after the immediate danger has passed. They work tirelessly for the future of their country because it is, quite simply, their home.

Local people have the power to find their own solutions to conflict – and to build their own better futures. Together we can make this happen.

Click the images below to find out how local people are building peace around the world.

Burundi

Mobilising young people to reject armed militias and prevent a civil war.

Zimbabwe

Action for Peace and Development, Burundi

Burundi is a small country that has suffered nearly five decades of violence and grave human rights abuses. Since gaining independence in 1962, some 300, 000 people have died as a result of violence between Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups. And although the last rebel group laid down their weapons in 2009, the situation remains fragile.

65% of the population is under the 20, and it is vital that they are fully involved in the opportunity for peace. This is why local hero Landry Ninteretse started Action for Peace and Development (APD}, a youth group that engages young people in building peace and democracy in Burundi.

APD is setting up peace clubs in high schools, where students will learn the skills they need to resist political violence. The peace clubs are also a place where young people can develop their own practical ideas for how to achieve a more peaceful, tolerant and democratic society. The young peacebuilders will share this with their peers, families and communities and to a wider audience through radio shows.

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With your support we can stop conflict and save lives. Your gift will help local people to build peace and heal their own communities

Centre Résolution Conflits, DR Congo

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo}, the second largest country in Africa, conflicts have raged for more than a decade killing over 5,000,000 people and forcing 2,500,000 million people to abandon their homes. Here, local peacebuilder Henri Ladyi has dedicated his life to building a peace that will last.

Henri is the co-ordinator of local peacebuilding organisation Centre Résolution Conflits (CRC) based in the Eastern Congo, a region which has been most vulnerable to conflict. The CRC:

Rescues child soldiers and finds a place for ex-militia members within communities and work with them to reintegrate into society, finding them work and supportive networks so that they will be able to leave violence behind them. The CRC understands that, although many boys and men who have been drawn into militia groups want to stop fighting, they often cannot see any other way.

Provides assistance to communities to manage the return of people forced to leave their communities during the conflict.

Helps communities to reject violence in the long-term by supporting communities to help themselves through conflict prevention committees.

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With your support we can stop conflict and save lives. Your gift will help local people to build peace and heal their own communities

Fondation Chirezi, DR Congo

The human cost of the war in Eastern Congo is horrifying. In the height of the violence many women suffered systematic rape at the hands of the armed groups and thousands of children were orphaned and left vulnerable.

Local hero Flory Kazingufu believes that as much of the violence in South Kivu now happens at the community level, any remedy for conflict must come from within these communities. Flory set up The Chirezi Foundation to build peace and change lives by finding alternatives for these victims of war, the women and children and their communities.

Flory set up traditional peace courts, to reach villages through the commitment of trained community volunteers of peace and community parliaments. These peace courts offer local people a way to handle the conflicts they face in everyday life, without violence.

Donate now

With your support we can stop conflict and save lives. Your gift will help local people to build peace and heal their own communities

Aware Girls, Pakistan

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is one of the most fragile states in Pakistan. Religious extremism has grown to become one of the biggest security threats. Militant groups have been known to incite extremism and violence, increasingly amongst young people. The government has struggled to maintain control in the region.

For women especially, extremism has led to growing insecurity – many fear kidnap or worse. Local hero Gulalai Ismail is working with women and young people to create real change.

At just 16 Gulalai Ismail set up Aware Girls with a group of school friends to change the lives of young women in Pakistan. They began by focusing on women’s rights, and as their membership has grown, they are now training young activists to build peace, challenging violence and extremism.

Donate now

With your support we can stop conflict and save lives. Your gift will help local people to build peace and heal their own communities

Kapamagogopa, Philippines

For decades the Philippines has been victim to a bloody armed struggle between the government and Muslim separatists seeking an independent state in southern parts of the country. At least 150,000 people have been killed and, since 2000, three million people have been forced to flee their homes. Recent peace talks have raised hopes that an end to the conflict is in sight. But the violence has left a legacy of suspicion and mistrust between Christian and Muslim communities.

Kapamagogopa International (KI) is bringing the two communities back together in Mindanao, the region worst affected by the conflict. They counteract prejudice between Muslims and Christians by introducing Muslim volunteers into community organisations across the region. By empowering Muslim volunteers to apply their talents in other communities, Kapamagogopa bridge the deep-rooted religious divides between them.

In 2013 KI won an award in the Tomorrow’s Peacebuilders competition, our annual search for the best emerging peacebuilders worldwide.

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With your support we can stop conflict and save lives. Your gift will help local people to build peace and heal their own communities

Centre for Peacebuilding and Reconciliation, Sri Lanka

For nearly 30 years, Sri Lanka has been scarred by a bitter civil war driven by ethnic tensions. Although the war ended in 2009, tensions between ethnic groups remain high. If left to simmer below the surface, these tensions could threaten the fragile peace Sri Lanka is working to build.

Local hero Dishani Jayaweera is determined to replace mistrust and fear with co-existence and harmony. In 2003 Dishani set up the Center for Peacebuilding and Reconciliation (CPBR).

CPBR believes that change has to come from individuals. And works with young people and religious leaders to build a united Sri Lanka guided by compassion, justice and respect for diversity. CPBR has reached out to all of the religious groups in Sri Lanka – Sinhalese Buddhists, Tamil Hindus, Muslim Islamic, and Tamil and Sinhalese Christians.

They bring together religious leaders to openly discuss what the future holds for their communities. These leaders go on to promote inter-community activities that bring people together regardless of religion or ethnicity.

They have also set up the Young Visionaries programme to train the next generation of leaders to help people live together and prevent any further hostility or violence.

Donate now

With your support we can stop conflict and save lives. Your gift will help local people to build peace and heal their own communities

Envision, Zimbabwe

Years of political and economic crisis have thrown many people in Zimbabwe into abject poverty. 80% of people are unemployed. With this number only set to rise, people have few options.

Envision was set up following the election turmoil in 2008 which caused worsening political violence, a breakdown of infrastructure and a nationwide outbreak of cholera. Their aim is to bring diverse groups together to lead their own development.

Envision is mobilising women’s groups, interfaith groups and other community groups to take control of their own lives and the future of their communities.

Donate now

With your support we can stop conflict and save lives. Your gift will help local people to build peace and heal their own communities

You can make a difference today by standing up for peace.

Without people like you, none of this would be possible. Last year roughly a third of our support came from our supporters - that’s a staggering 6581 gifts. Because of you, local peacebuilders can dedicate their lives to building peace in the world's most difficult and dangerous places. You are important and integral to what we do.

Katherine & Mark

Jane Thurnell-Read

Your donation can make peace possible

With your support local people can stop conflict and save lives.

Your donation doesn't just provide the resources to do a job. It shows these heroes that they are not alone. That half way around the world you are standing by them as they risk their lives to build peace.

Make your gift acheive more

Tick the box and increase your donation by 25%, at no extra cost to you

Please tick this box to let Peace Direct claim tax on all gifts made from today and in the last four years.

By ticking this box you confirm you have paid or will pay income tax or capital gains tax for each tax year to cover the amount that all the charities that you give to will reclaim for that tax year. You understand that other taxes such as VAT and Council Tax do not qualify. You understand the charity will reclaim 25p of tax on every £1 that you give on or after 6 April 2008.